Accord, New York - Higbie Dazzles Accord Crowd With Big Block Win on Mombaccus Excavating Night
by Steve Pados, Accord Media

As the 2007 racing season winds down at the Accord Speedway, the abundance of driving talent at the Ulster County speedplant continues to "wind-up." Another great evening of exciting racing activity kept the large, enthusiastic crowd on the edge of their seats for most of the seven feature event card on Mombaccus Excavating Night. Promoter Gary Palmer had the 1/4 mile groomed to impeccable condition and the 145 racers on hand utilized the multi-lane raceway to their advantage as the three and four wide racing action was the perfect ticket for a classic Hudson Valley late summer evening.

Slate Hill, New York Modified driving star Jerry Higbie took advantage of a third place starting position to dominate the event and corral his second feature event win of the season at Accord. David Coene and Jesse Marks won the two Sportsman feature events and Vinnie DeCicco drove to his fourth win of the year in the Spec Sportsman feature event. Bill Deak Jr won his first Pro Stock feature of the season as did Ralph Ronk in the Pure Stock event. Clint Roehrs won his sixth feature event in the Mini Sprints.

Jerry Curry and Rick Mill brought the Rhinebeck Ford Modified feature down for the start of the event and it was Mill taking the Crackers Motorsports entry into the lead off of turn two. Mill would break out into a early six length advantage, but Higbie moved into second on lap-3, and set his sights on the high-flying Mill. Higbie, utilizing the Big Block power he had bolted between the rails, moved to the topside of the raceway on lap-5 and quickly reeled in Mill as he let the Mid City Transit/Mr K's Carpet/HigFab/Baddabing Pizza/Embroidery Wizard sponsored mount "eat" the tacky and moist Accord clay. Utilizing the top side to his full advantage, Higbie drove around Mill off turn four with a power move that vaulted him into the lead, a lead Higbie wouldn't relinguish for the duration for the event.

Again the racing action mid-pack was worth the price of an admission ticket as the bumper to bumper and side by side action was classic Accord racing. Richie Eurich, Mel Shrufer and Robbie Green all broke through with solid drives to the front, but it was the "Wild Child" Andy Bachetti who took his Albreada Waste sponsored Modified to the wild side of the raceway to make his presence known on the 12th-lap of the 30-lap event.

As Higbie set the pace with his dazzling outside run, it was Bachetti taking to the higher ground as well. Although his racing line was a bit more daring, Bachetti worked hard to cut down the distance between himself and the rim-riding Higbie. Even though a few caution flags slowed the pace, it was Higbie pedaling his race car to a safe advantage over Bachetti after a few laps of green flag racing.

Higbie crossed under the checkered flag after the 30-laps to claim his second win of the year at the Accord facility and was followed by the hard-charging Bachetti. Rick Mill, in a brilliant drive hung tough for third, and Richie Eurich, who has since switched to small block power after winning with a Big Block earlier, drove to a fine fourth place finish. Rich Ricci Jr drove from his twelveth starting spot to complete the top five running order. Jerry Curry kept his Artic Adventures sponsored machine in the hotly contested battle all night to finish in sixth place in a great drive for the converted pavement champion.

In the heldover Camper's Barn Sportsman feature event, Steve Krom drove his Armistead Mechanical sponsored mount to the front for three laps before yielding to Napanoch's Jesse Marks, who was wheeling his Quality Sealcoat sponsored machine. Marks, finding a great racing line off the high side of turn two, powered his way into the lead and
raced out to big advantage over Krom. Steve Meilleur, a feature event winner last week, kept pace as he and Krom had a race of their own going for the runnerup spot. Meilleur finally moved around Krom with an inside maneuver late in the going, but couldn't catch the smooth running Marks. Jesse Marks crossed the line for his first win of the year and Steve Meilleur finished second. Steve Krom, a winner himself a couple of weeks ago, finished third with David Bush and Danny Tyler completing the top five running order.

David Coene shook off some recent poor luck and took advantage of a front row starting spot to bolt into the lead at the drop of the green flag to wire the field with his Hurley Construction racer in the regularly scheduled Camper's Barn Sportsman feature event. The win for the Warwick, New York driver was his first of the 2007 racing season. Haskell, New Jersey's Tom Dakake followed Coene for most of the race and although Dakake challenged at times during the course of the event, could never nose his Accurate Construction car into the lead. A late race pass by Danny Tyler moved Tyler into the runnerup role and Dakake would finish third. David Bush was fourth in a fine run and Ray See Jr completed the top five running order.

Charlie Swartz Jr led the first four laps of the Amsoil Pro Stock feature event, before giving way rookie Pro Stock campaigner Bill Deak Jr. Deak Jr, who was the 2006 Pure Stock Champion at the speedway, was gunning for his first victory in the Pro Stock ranks. Lap after lap Deak Jr held off the advances of all comers as he sped to victory in his
Deak Electric/CARQUEST of New Milford sponsored late model racer. John Roese was in for second place in a great drive and Larry Temple Jr finished third. Don Williams and Marl Lathrop completed the top five running order.

In the Bryant's Towing Pure Stock feature event, New Paltz, New York's Ralph Ronk sped past John Woinoski at the opening bell to lead all 15-laps of the event and capture his first win of the 2007 season. Ronk, who was knocked out of last week's feature early with a broken axle, held off all challengers to record the win. Don Coon finished second with John Woinoski running steady and finishing third. Joe Judge rallied to finish fourth and Mike Deyo brought the Showalter Equipment sponsored mount home in fifth position in another solid run.

Danny Conklin powered his Accurate Construction machine into the lead early in the running of the Heart Chevrolet Spec Sportsman feature event. Vinny DeCicco gunned his way into the lead on lap five with an inside pass of Conklin and quickly showed the backside of his racer to the field for the remainder of the 20 laps in securing his fourth win of the year at Accord. The veteran wheel twister Jeff Richardson, raced his way into second place late in the race to finish in the runnerup slot. Conklin ran a great race to finish third and Greg Hastie raced from 15th starting place to finish a fine fourth. Phil Recchio, the current points leader, was caught up in an early race scramble that set the stage for some rim-riding of his own as he rallied from the rear of the field to finish fifth and keep his narrow point lead over Hastie.

In the Kingston Nissan Mini Sprint feature event, it was all Clint Roehrs as he powered his Roehr's Construction/Apple Greens Golf Course sponsored mount to his sixth win of the year with an impressive showing of horsepower and daring. Mark Rogers paced the field for the first three laps of the event before giving way to the high flying Roehrs.
Once in the lead, Roehrs was in a race by himself as he powered his mount to a full straightaway win over Scott Goodrich. Mark Rogers finished third and Tim Durland and Todd Lapp completed the top five running order.

MUDPLUGS:

More new faces accentuated the already filled to the max capacity pit area. Benny Rizzo made his first appearance to the speedway and qualified for the main event, registering a 17th place finish in the final rundown. Bill Papula qualified the family owned Modified for the first time and finished 13th in the main event.

The "TP Jet" Mel Lewis returned to the speedway for the first time since the initial season practice session and couldn't find his way into the main event, and the same fate met Kenny Moulton Jr, who was driving one of the Jim House cars for the evening. Sammy Dwy, who was making his first Accord appearance, was impressive as he made his way into the feature and was in a challenging position until caught up in some skirmishes that placed him on the sideline by the midway point of the feature.

The influx of talent necessitated four heats for the Sportsman cars. Heats were won by Coene, Keith VanOyan, Howard Jarvis, and Tom Dakake. Modified heats were won by Higbie, Mill, and Mel Shrufer. Spec Sportsman heat winners were Conklin and DeCicco, and the Mini Sprint heats went to Goodrich and Roehrs. Pro Stock heat wins were secured by Swartz, Temple and Williams, and the Pure Stock heats were captured by Bill Bulson, Bill Rion, and Joe Judge.

The Pre-Race Show featured interviews with Empire Forklift sponsored driver Ken Ferrier, who suffered through a tough night at the speedway, and Tim Durland, a rising star in the open wheel ranks. Although the show was a shortened version this week, it is a great barometer for the exceptional amount of talent racing at the Accord Speedway during the season.

The fine folks from the evening's sponsor, Mombaccus Excavating, took part in all of the Winner's Circle activities and enjoyed the racing from their view in the VIP Tower.

Longtime Accord employee, celebrated his 71st birthday by taking his customary role as the ticket taker at the main gate of the speedway.

One more week of points remain in the season and some of the battles will boil down to what driver has the better night this week as HO Penn presents the final night of points on Friday night September 14th.

Modified winner Jerry Higbie and Accord Promoter Gary Palmer will be a part of the CARQUEST Gasoline Alley TV/Internet Show on Monday evening, September 10th, starting at 6 PM. Make sure you tune in as Higbie talks about his win at Accord on Friday night and his racing this season. Palmer will talk about the great season of racing at the Speedway and the upcoming "King of the Catskills" event scheduled for September 28th. The internet site for the show is: www.walncableradio.com